Koeman: We deserved to beat Eibar, winning title tough from here

Ronald Koeman said Barcelona deserved to beat Eibar on Tuesday but conceded that more dropped points mean it will be difficult to win La Liga from here.

Ousmane Dembele cancelled out Kike Garcia's opener as Barça were held to a 1-1 draw by Eibar, leaving them seven points behind leaders Atletico Madrid having played two games more.

It could have been a different story of Martin Braithwaite didn't miss a first-half penalty or if Ronald Araujo didn't make a mistake to gift Garcia a goal.

"We deserved to win, we did enough," Koeman said. "They had one shot on target. We made chances, but we didn't score the penalty and then we make a mistake in defense.

"We did well, we worked hard and did enough to win but this is happening to us a lot. In the first half, we had problems bringing the ball out from the back, we didn't fine players between the lines... maybe it was the fear of taking the risk. But once again, a game where we create a lot but don't take our chances."  

With Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba among those missing, and Sergio Busquets on the bench, Koeman was asked if his side lacked experience.

"I don't want to say we were lacking experienced players," he said. "The team is in transition. And there are also injuries. We play with young players. The team tonight had five or six youngsters, but we also had a lot of experience.

"We missed Leo, who makes the difference. But we are left asking how it's possible we didn't win. We created a lot, missed a penalty and gifted a goal to Eibar. If we had gone ahead, the team would have been more confident."  

Dembele made his comeback from a hamstring injury as a substitute at half-time, scoring the equaliser. He was Barça's best player on the night and Koeman labelled him as "very important because of his pace in the wing. We're happy to have him back."  

Finally, asked if the title was now gone, the Dutch coach responded: "If I am realistic, winning the league is really complicated. Nothing is impossible, but we have to recognise the distance between us and the leaders. Atletico look really good to me, strong, not conceding many goals..."

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